"If you've ever thrown down some coins at Cache Creek Casino in Brooks (Yolo County), it is very likely Bill Harland knows who you are.

Harland, the casino's vice president of table games and a 20-year veteran of the gaming business, has an eye on every wager that is made on felt, from the 114 tables in the main gaming pits to the 28 tables in the poker room.

His workday usually starts about 7:30 a.m., when he reviews reports on play from the previous day. If a report indicates the house won big, Harland looks at which games were most profitable. If the report says players made bank, Harland investigates which players were the big winners of the day.

"A lot of this job is analysis - taking stock of how certain games, tables and people are performing over time," he says. "It might not be glamorous, but that's how casinos work.""

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Gaming by Matt Villano: Cache Creek VP bets on innovation (The San Francisco Chronicle 5/21)